As the economy recovers and more Americans are vaccinated, there has been an increase in the job opportunities available. However, what employers are discovering is that few candidates are applying. Fewer candidates are responding to job offers, representing a total of 360 from a year ago, when unemployment rates were the highest in history and job opportunities were very few in between. So what is the cause of the “candidate shortage”?
A recent USA Today Money¹ article reports that many Americans are concerned about changing jobs during the pandemic due to financial and health risks. It is a “safe” option to stay with the company you are currently with. Others are happy with the unemployment benefits they are receiving. In some cases, workers are making more money “unemployed” than if they were working. They do not have an incentive and are not motivated to go to work when they can earn more money by staying home. This has caused recruiting and recruiting companies to focus their strategies on reaching candidates who are already working. Recruiters have even started to turn to competing companies to recruit skilled workers and lower-middle-level managers, which is often a tactic for hiring high-level executives.
As recruiting and recruiting companies come up with new strategies for finding candidates during the “candidate shortage,” their Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is an important resource that cannot be overlooked. Not only are there multiple tools you can use in an ATS, it also hosts hundreds and in some cases even thousands of candidates right in front of you! In this article, we’ll dive into a handful of helpful tools to leverage on your ATS.
Reference reports
The first important information you can get from your ATS is a report on your candidates’ references. In the last 3 months, through which source are the majority of candidates entering your database? Is it through a job board, social media, cold calling? Looking at this information can help determine which “currently” is the best source for recruiting candidates. You can then further focus your efforts on sources that are currently performing slightly better than others.
Using Lookups and Pipelines
Both the search capabilities and pipelines in your ATS are powerful resources for you when searching for candidates. As noted in the introduction, your ATS may have hundreds or even thousands of candidates at your fingertips. Using your searches and pipelines in your ATS is a great place to start your search for candidates.
Pipelines are a useful tool in creating a list of “top” candidates. If you already have a pipeline built, this would be a good place to start. If a pipeline hasn’t been built yet, you can start building a pipeline that includes the top candidates you want to reach. Pipes can be divided by industry and / or position. The breakdown of each channel by industry or position will help you recruit for current positions and will also be helpful in the future when you are hiring for similar positions. These will be channels of talent that you will continue to add and update, not just a one-time use. That way, the best candidates will always be easily accessible based on the industry and / or positions you are recruiting for. Once you add the initial candidates that you want to include in your pipeline, you can use the search capabilities in your ATS to add other qualified candidates.
Some popular searches you can perform include searching by skills, position, job history titles, location (if there is a specific location you need to hire for), and last contact (if you want to narrow your search based on the last time you contacted a candidate.) Another useful search option is to do a full-text search for keywords. A full-text search searches its database for certain keywords in a candidate’s profile, including their resume. This is useful if you want to search by position to see which candidates have held a similar position. As you search and find leads, add them to your pipeline.
Automated workflow surveys
You have your pipes built; You can then send an automated workflow survey to these candidates. Submitting a survey will help narrow your list to determine which candidates are interested in a job. The results of the survey will help you save time so that you do not reach out to candidates who are not looking. Some ATS solutions will have an integration that allows you to send an email or text message that includes survey questions. Based on the survey response, they will automatically receive a follow-up email that matches their response. If this option is not available to you, you can easily send a survey to your pipeline through a platform such as Survey Monkey® or Google Forms®. These responses will not be automated or logged into your ATS and will require a bit more manual work, but you can still get the same end result.
Examples of simple yes / no survey questions you could include to assess who is interested in speaking:
-
Are you willing to change jobs? (if they are working)
-
Are you open to work? (if they don’t work)
During the “candidate shortage,” it might also be imperative to offer an incentive to candidates, depending on the industry. You can offer incentives based on performance, attendance, referrals, and more. Incentives can not only attract someone to work with you, but they can also help increase employee engagement to work with you longer.
Incentives can include:
-
Subscription to the streaming service for one year
-
$ X in groceries delivered to your home with your choice of what they would like.
-
Monthly or yearly meal subscription service
-
Free tickets to a local sporting event or attraction.
-
During the holidays, you can offer a free Thanksgiving turkey dinner or a special holiday treat.
If you decide to create an incentive program or use an existing one, you can include a question in your survey that links to the incentive program:
-
Would you be willing to work if you could get a Netflix subscription for one year to attend?
Including a survey question that links to the incentive program allows you to see if they would be willing to work if there was an additional incentive rather than if no incentive was offered.
Follow-up communication
Once the survey results are available, you’ll want to send a follow-up communication to candidates who said they are interested in a job. If your ATS has a built-in integration, similar to the one above, the following email can be sent automatically at a scheduled time based on candidates who have answered “yes”. If you don’t have an automation tool, you can create an email or SMS template in your ATS to send a follow-up message to these candidates. In the message, you can include information about the job, the incentive program (if you’re offering one), and a way for them to respond, “I’m interested.”
In some cases, you may even be able to include a “job acceptance” link within the communication. Some ATS mobile apps also allow a similar “job acceptance” feature where you submit a job directly to a candidate through the ATS mobile app and they can accept a job that way.. Including a link to accept the job offer will conveniently position candidates without the need for additional effort on your part. It’s also convenient from the candidate’s perspective because all you have to do is click the link to accept the job offer.
* Your survey follow-up message can take many shapes and forms depending on the tools you have available.
Social media posting
Lastly, to complement the scope above, you can also use the social media tools on your ATS to post the job description within your network and encourage others to share. During the current “candidate shortage,” referrals can be especially helpful for those hesitating to change jobs during the pandemic. Seeing someone in your network share their job opportunity can give them a boost of encouragement and confidence to work with your recruiting and recruiting company.
Decrease the shortage of candidates
The “candidate shortage” can bring a variety of obstacles to hiring and staffing. Using your ATS pool of candidates, in addition to taking advantage of the robust tools available, will help decrease any candidate shortages you are facing. Finding the right candidates in your ATS who are open for work is key and following up on a convenient way to accept a job offer will place candidates more quickly and easily. Lastly, remember to use your Referral Report to tap into the sources where the most candidates are coming from to maintain a constant flow of new candidates. Soon your candidate shortage may turn into a candidate surplus!
Sources:
USA Today Money¹